This Isn't A Library: New And Notable Releases To The Comics Direct Market

*****

Here are the books that make an impression on me staring at this week's no-doubt largely accurate list of books shipping from Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. to comic book and hobby shops across North America.

I might not buy all of the works listed here. I might not buy any. But if I were anywhere near a comic shop, I would explode through the doors and engage in a vicious spree of serial comic buying.

JUL100036 SAVAGE SWORD OF KULL TP VOL 01 $19.99
At some point in the next half-decade, I want to transform my collection from one of proximity/utility -- having most of the comics I think I might need to perform the writing for this site -- to one of stupidity/folly, by which I mean pick some weird comics category and run with it. I've been thinking about a really good alt-comics collection 1980-2000, but I'm also considering an all-barbarian comics collection.

AUG100143 BATMAN THE RETURN #1 $4.99
As someone who doesn't buy these books except in big chunks from the dollar bin, I'm a bit confused as to why you have mini-series that need to be bridged by expensive one-shots. On the other hand, the people that are enjoy the various Batman books engineered by Grant Morrison hardly seem to care how they're coming out as long as they get a chance to read them.

AUG100380 ROCKETEER COMPLETE COLLECTION DLX ED HC VOL 01 (O/A) $75.00
I've greatly enjoyed the special Rocketeer editions that IDW has done. I think what I like best is that the late Dave Stevens' career output on the character was a self-contained burst of expression around which multiple formats can be anchored.

MAR100393 ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #25 $4.99
This is I believe the last issue of the Robert Kirkman Image series that didn't quite get over the way Walking Dead and Invincible have. I don't think it's anywhere near as good a comic, but what was interesting to me about the series is the subject mater explored is so odd and specific: that time during the 1970s where horror icons became superheroes. Anyway, I predict this issue will see some character with a bloody mouth and bloody claws.

SEP100715 FANTASTIC FOUR BY JONATHAN HICKMAN TP VOL 02 $15.99
A second volume of material featuring work by writer Jonathan Hickman, the most successful in a long time in imprinting his own brand of ideas and presentational structures on Marvel's 50-year-old superhero team.

JUL101044 BEST AMERICAN COMICS HC 2010 $23.00
I thought this was a super-solid effort, and I'm glad to own it. I can't imagine a world where as a teen I could goof off for a couple of hours reading a book like this one. It would have changed my life much earlier than it was eventually changed.

SEP101022 CASTLE WAITING HC VOL 02 $29.99
You know how some comics seem to be collective community efforts, in that they traffic in styles and ideas that are on the minds and coming out of the fingertips of the art form's chattering class? Linda Medley's quiet, humane fantasy is the opposite of that, a creation wholly her own. I know three people that hardly read any comics at all that will be totally psyched to get an e-mail from me 30 seconds after I post this.

AUG101014 LITTLE MAAKIES PRAIRIE HC $19.99
I think Tony Millionaire may be in that slightly-taken-for-granted phase of his career right now, and that's not fair. Sometimes it is, just not with Tony. I can't imagine not owning all of these, even if the rest of my collection is barbarian comics.

JUL101045 LITTLE PRINCE GN $19.99
Longtime publisher of all things Little Prince HMH printed 50,000 copies of the English-language version of Joann Sfar's well-received 2007 adaptation of the kids-lit classic, so you might have an easier time finding it in the bookstore than in the comics shop. No matter where you want to look for it, it has to be worth at least a look. We're a couple generations removed from the one that flipped out over this book in illustrated prose form, but it can still pack a punch, and Sfar is a fine, fine cartooning talent.

AUG101018 LITTLEST PIRATE KING HC $16.99
David B., one of comics' mightiest visual talents, with an adaptation of an all-ages tale full of dream logic and creepy things. How could you walk by and not at the very least hold it in your hands for a time?

SEP101197 SOPHIE CRUMB EVOLUTION OF A CRAZY ARTIST HC $27.95
You're seen some of the ramp-up publicity, at least if you've been reading this blog for the last couple of weeks: now buy the book.

JUL101018 WHAT I DID HC $24.99
The comics here are pretty great, although I greatly prefer the individual books to these omnibus collections. They're first class and everything, but I think those individual Jason book are about as perfect as they come production-wise. Still: Jason, and the comics that put him on the North American alt-comics map.

*****

The full list of this week's releases, including some titles with multiple cover variations and a long, impressive list of toys and other stuff that isn't comics, can be found here. Despite this official list there's no guarantee a comic will show up in the stores as promised, or in all of the stores as opposed to just a few. Also, stores choose what they carry and don't carry so your shop may not carry a specific publication. There are a lot of comics out there.

To find your local comic book store, check this list; and for one I can personally recommend because I've shopped there, albeit a while back, try this.

The above titles are listed with their Diamond order code in the first field, which may assist you in finding comics at your shop or having them order something for you they don't have in-stock. Ordering through a direct market shop can be a frustrating experience, so if you have a direct line to something -- you know another shop has it, you know a bookstore has it -- I'd urge you to consider all of your options.